Bring In the Monk

Buddhist monks and slashing daggers? Acrobatic dives and tumbles amidst hypnotic, meditative calm? Expectations are bound to be upended by Sutra, the remarkable collaboration between choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and the monks of China’s Shaolin Temple. The focused discipline of their movement might be expected, but the work’s evocative landscape and striking imagery, as the 17 gray-clad monks embark on a journey within, around and amidst coffin-like plywood crates, take the viewer on a surprising journey.

The Belgian/Moroccan choreographer, 34, was last represented in New York by Orbo Novo, his full-evening work for the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet last year. Zero Degrees, his notable collaboration with Akram Khan, was seen earlier at City Center. Sutra is part of the Lincoln Center's [White Light Festival] (read about other performances [being presented in CityArts](http://cityarts.info/2010/10/28/go-toward-the-white-light/)). A uniquely flexible, adventurous mover in his own right—he performs in Sutra as a kind of outsider/foil to the ensemble of monks—his wide range of influences range from hip-hop and the dancing he watched as a teenager on TV variety shows, to modern dance and yoga.

Larbi’s rise as a major figure on the European contemporary dance scene was rapid during the past decade, and he now directs his own troupe, Eastman, based in Antwerp.

In 2007, seeking to recharge and renew at a moment of creative fatigue, he visited the Shaolin Temple, in Henan Province, which was established in 495 A.D. by monks originating from India. A fan of Bruce Lee since childhood, Larbi had long been fascinated by the monks’ tradition of practicing martial arts; kung fu and tai chi are part of their daily routine. “My first intention was just to go there to meet them, not to work with them,” he told a British interviewer just before Sutra’s 2008 world premiere at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theater. “They’re very disciplined with their bodies. The way they train I could relate to and the search for peace within the mind through meditation were things I’d been touching upon and there I found some brothers in that kind of thinking.”

Soon, the idea for Larbi’s next work was taking shape, one in which his own layered influences and the monks’ rich tradition would confront and complement each other. Two crucial collaborators became involved: sculptor Antony Gormley, who had designed the set for Zero Degrees, made the visual design unique and malleable, which includes the striking crates that are inhabited and manipulated in imaginative and unexpected ways. Szymon Brzóska, the Polish composer who created the haunting score for Orbo Novo, composed an original score for piano, two violins, cello and percussion.

Returning to the remote mountain temple for several months in early 2008, Larbi began the collaboration in earnest. In addition to their agility and physical discipline, the Shaolin monks were, perhaps unexpectedly, quite connected to modern life. They use cell phones and have access to popular music and the Internet. “They told me this was natural, as the Shaolins have always been on top of new technology. This openness was good for me because it meant the monks were receptive to my ideas,” the choreographer wrote in a diary he kept about his stay. “The monks have a wonderful freedom of spirit and they’re as interested in hip-hop and contemporary culture as they are in the Buddhist sutras,” he told an Australian interviewer when Sutra was performed in Sydney last month.

As rehearsals began—with communication taking place through a translator—some points of familiarity were discovered amid the vast differences in traditions. Larbi found himself “surprised by how familiar certain moves are, as if dance elements cross cultures. There’s a flipping of the shoulders the monks do, like a dolphin, that I use in my own choreography. Some jumps look more like jazz to me than kung fu,” he noted in the diary. Adaptation, exchange and playfulness marked the process. “When I showed them Antony’s boxes and explained how I wanted to use them as building blocks to create different sets, they were very eager. They organised themselves immediately to build up the sets. It was like when my brother and I used to play with Lego,” he wrote.

A 10-year-old monk (the rest of the cast members are mostly in their late teens or early twenties) became a pivotal figure in the work. Sometimes paired with Larbi, suggesting teacher and student, or perhaps father and son, as figures apart from, perhaps observing, the larger community, his remarkable presence evoking both innocence and wisdom enriches the texture of the work. Sutra has toured globally over the past two years, and now New Yorkers will have their opportunity to experience this unusual collaboration.

Sutra

Nov. 2-4, Rose Theater, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at West 60th Street, 212-721-6500; 7:30, $35 & up.